Core technical advantages (compared to traditional silicon-based devices)

Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices have comprehensively surpassed traditional silicon-based IGBT devices in core performance aspects such as high temperature resistance, high voltage tolerance, and low loss. According to the 2025 Q3 power semiconductor report of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the breakdown voltage of SiC MOSFET can reach over 2000V, which is 1.7 times that of the same specification silicon-based IGBT (1200V); its switching loss is only 1/10 of that of silicon-based IGBT, reducing the overall power loss by 35% in the 800V new energy vehicle electronic control system; at the same time, the maximum operating temperature of SiC devices can reach 200℃, which is 33% higher than that of silicon-based IGBT (150℃), significantly simplifying the heat dissipation system design. Additionally, the thermal conductivity of SiC materials reaches 490W/(m·K), which is 3.2 times that of silicon materials (150W/(m·K)), with better heat diffusion efficiency, suitable for high power density application scenarios.

Key material and fabrication breakthroughs

A certain domestic semiconductor enterprise announced a breakthrough in SiC substrate technology in Q2 2025: By optimizing the growth process using the "Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) method", the defect density of 4-inch N-type SiC substrates was reduced to 0.1 per cm², a 80% decrease compared to the industry mainstream level (0.5 per cm²). The relevant results were published in the "Journal of Semiconductors". This breakthrough increased the yield of SiC devices from 70% to 92%, and reduced the unit substrate cost by 40%. At the same time, an European device enterprise developed a "Silver-Copper Sintering Packaging Process", reducing the thermal resistance between SiC chips and substrates from 50℃/kW to 25℃/kW, improving the heat dissipation efficiency by 50%, and lowering the temperature of the device during full-load operation by 20℃, significantly enhancing long-term reliability.

Industry application scenarios implementation

In the field of new energy vehicles, SiC power devices are the core components of the 800V high-voltage platform. A certain automaker equipped with SiC electronic control in its high-end pure electric vehicles has a 15% increase in range compared to vehicles equipped with silicon-based IGBT electronic control, and the charging time has been shortened from 45 minutes to 25 minutes. In the first half of 2025, the sales volume of this model exceeded 200,000 units. In the field of photovoltaic energy storage, the conversion efficiency of SiC inverters has increased to 99.5%, reducing energy loss by 70% compared to silicon-based inverters (98.8%), and a 200MWh energy storage system can save approximately 2.8 million yuan in electricity costs annually. In the industrial power supply field, SiC devices have increased the power density of high-frequency switching power supplies to 5kW/L, which is double that of traditional silicon-based power supplies (2kW/L), reducing the equipment volume by 50% and meeting the small-scale deployment requirements of industrial automation.

Existing technology and market challenges

The core materials and fabrication equipment of SiC power devices still have technical barriers: Currently, the domestic self-sufficiency rate of 6-inch and larger SiC substrates is only 25%, and high-purity SiC powder (purity 99.9999%) relies on imports, resulting in a 60% cost of substrates accounting for the total cost of the devices. Technically, the threshold voltage drift problem of SiC devices has not been completely solved. In high-temperature long-term working environments, the threshold voltage fluctuation can reach 0.8V, requiring complex driver circuits for compensation, increasing design difficulty and cost. In the market, the global SiC power device production capacity is concentrated in 4 overseas enterprises. In Q3 2025, the supply-demand gap in the domestic new energy vehicle field reached 28%, and the delivery cycle of automotive-grade SiC MOSFETs was as long as 22 weeks, pushing up the procurement costs of downstream automakers. In addition, the packaging process compatibility of SiC devices is insufficient, and it cannot be directly shared with traditional silicon-based device packaging lines, requiring the construction of a dedicated production line, further increasing the industrialization threshold.